The Novice SorceressChapter 1

'The Tri-fold law is the guiding ethos of most magical systems. Simply put: Do as you please with harm to none. What you sow will return three fold to the sower.'

This is the story of Katherine Simpson, although people who know her call her Katy. This story starts on her 13th birthday. The previous 13 years have little or no bearing on the rest of Katy's life.

Katy looked down at the present she just opened. She hoped Tom, her big brother, would buy her the latest Whipper music video. The cover of the kiddy book shone up at Katy, "Here's a Geas, There's a Geas, Everywhere a Geas, Geas, Geas". Filled the cover of the book, along with dozens of geese flying across it. The author's name was one line across the bottom, Abrigal Silverlocks.

Her lips pursed as she slowly looked up at her brother.

"A kid's book?" she asked.

"I'm thirteen years old!"

He laughed and so did everybody else in the room.

"Yeah, but you look ten."

That did it. Katy stood up, which was not as easy as it sounds. Her feet barely reached the floor, as she was the smallest person in the family. Even her ten year old sister was three inches taller than she was. Walking to the doorway that led to the hall, Katy turned to face the room where everyone was looking at her.

"Excuse me, but it must be close to my bedtime."

She then turned and rushed up the stairs to her bedroom. Slamming the door shut behind her, she dropped onto the bed. The tears slipped from between her eyelids as she hugged the pillow to her.

"I will not cry." She thought to herself. For years, they picked on Katy as the midget of the family. They did not mean to hurt her feelings, but they were just so used to doing it they did not understand that it did hurt.

Now THIS on her 13th birthday, they give her a kiddy book! As her emotions calmed down, she dozed off.

Turning over woke Katy up, the book she was still holding to her chest gouged her. Opening her eyes, she noticed the room was dark. Sitting up a blanket slid off her to the floor on that side of the bed. Someone, her mom, put the cover over her and turned the lights off. Reaching over she turned the bedside lamp on. Looking around, she saw someone brought all her presents to her room and placed them on the dresser.

For a moment, she wondered if any of the unopened ones had some dolls and doll clothes for her to play with.

Katy was in the eighth grade at middle school! Next year she would be a freshman in high school. A straight "A" student in the advanced classes, she would have jumped the eighth grade and gone straight to High School this year if she was not so small.

Not sleepy anymore, she got up and leaned against the headboard. Looking at the book she was holding so tight, she opened it. Katy really loved books and even if this one was for little kids, she could not help but treat it with respect.

'Having practiced the Magical Arts for years and never finding a decent book describing the practice and learning of those Arts, I decided to write one of my own.

'So welcome readers. Within these pages you will find those things I though pertinent to a beginner to the Magical Arts.'

Katy sat up straighter. The next page was a table of contents. Tri-fold law, Laws of Contagion, Laws of Similarity. Protection, Health, Good Fortune, Ritual, and Ingredients were the titles of each section. Katy became engrossed in the book; this did not appear to be a kiddy book after all.

My thanks to daves.not.here for his editing and proofing help. But the final results are mine and all criticism should be loaded onto my shoulders.